The Life on Her Side of the Glass
by AliasDemon99
Summary: Sydney finds out what it is like for her mother to be helpless on the other side of the glass. New chapter!!!!!
1. The Wrong Side or the Right Side?

* The Life On Her Side of the Glass*  
  
Disclaimer: Not Mine. No money. Duh.  
  
^_^_^_  
  
Chapter One  
  
^_^_^_  
  
"Why are you doing this?!" Sydney yelled, struggling to get out of the four marshals'' grip with no avail.  
  
"Agent Bristow, recent information had led us to believe that you are and have been working with your mother against the U.S. Government for several years now. We need to keep you locked up until we can be sure what this information means." Kendall spoke angrily.  
  
"But what about SD-6? They will find out if I don't go to work! Then my cover and my father's cover could be exposed!" Sydney shot back.  
  
"At this point, we can do nothing about that. For the time being, your father will have to cover for you for as long as he can." Kendall replied.  
  
"And where on earth did you get this information?! It could not be farther from the truth! You can't honestly believe it!" Sydney rushed.  
  
"As long as we can not prove the Intel wrong, you will just have to wait here." Kendall answered.  
  
Sydney realized where they were taking her almost immediately. To her mother's cell. They were going to make her stay in the same room as a convict. Christ.  
  
"No funny business." Kendall left abruptly.  
  
"Hello Sydney."   
  
  
* 


	2. In Her Mother's Arms

A/N: Omg! So I just uploaded and created this story and then went to read another fanfic, less than 5 minutes later, my mail thingy went on and I had two review alerts! In only 5 minutes! Can you believe that! And I am totally not kidding! So that is why I would like to specially thank those three first reviews! For their kindness, I have decided to post another chapter already! Please enjoy and review!  
  
Oh, one more thing, this is set right after the,well, uh...just forget about the whole Marshall mission thing-this is sometime after the hug between Syd and her mom....  
  
*  
Chapter Two  
*  
  
  
"Hello Sydney." Irina said with genuine concern in her voice.  
  
"Oh mom!" Sydney immediately threw her arms around her mother and began shaking uncontrollably with sobs.   
  
"How could they think such things about me! I never did anything wrong!"  
  
"Shh...my dear. They will figure out what went wrong soon enough. They should know you are trustworthy." Irina soothed.  
  
"Thanks mom." Sydney said as her sobs subsided.  
  
The mother and daughter smiled at each other for a few moments before Irina invited Sydney to sit. Then, they sat together, on the hard floor in comfortable silence.   
  
**  
A few hours later.  
**  
  
TAP TAP TAP came the sound of Vaughn's fingertips on the glass barrier.  
  
Sydney rose from her seat on the floor and strode quickly toward the glass.  
  
"Sydney! I am so sorry this happened. I haven't had a chance to see this 'Intel', but Kendall filled me in a little bit, but you know how he is." Vaughn said with concern filling his emerald eyes.  
  
"Oh Vaughn. How could this happen? How could they even think such things about me!" Sydney pleaded answers to questions that could never be answered. And like the good friend he was, Vaughn listened and comforted her without hesitation.  
  
"Don't worry Sydney, I will take a look at the Intel and fix this. I am so sorry. Just sit tight and don't worry." Vaughn looked over to Irina suspiciously before quickly returning his gaze to Sydney, but Sydney caught where his eyes had been straying.  
  
"Vaughn. It's okay. She isn't bothering me. We're fine." Sydney assured.  
  
The only problem with her response was, Vaughn wanted it to be the opposite. He never wanted Sydney to bond with her mother. He could never forgive Irina for what she had done to his family so long ago. It was wrong. But Sydney seemed more able to forgive and forget. She seemed to be getting closer to her mother by the day. Sometimes, selfishly, Vaughn, if only for a second, would wish Sydney would have never agreed to speak to her mother. He wanted Sydney to hate Irina as much as he did. But after a few moments considering this thought, Vaughn would always realize that Sydney's bond with her mother had been instilled at birth and could never really be broken. And then he would pressure himself to forgive, if only for Sydney's sake.  
  
Vaughn left with assuring words and Sydney returned to her mother's side.  
  
  
"Is he getting you out?" Irina prompted Sydney to speak of their conversation.  
  
"He's trying."  
  
Several moments passed between the two before a new conversation was introduced.  
  
"You know he's in love with you, don't you." It was a statement, not a question.  
  
A minute more of considering passed.  
  
"Yes, I know." Sydney averted her gaze from her mother down to the cool floor. "But I can't do anything about it. I don't want him to die...like Danny....and Noah...."Sydney continued to stare at the floor.  
  
"Danny and Noah?" Irina was obviously unknowledgeable about the fore-mentioned people.  
  
"I thought you knew everything about me." Sydney deadpanned.  
  
"No my dear,..not even close." Irina spoke wonderingly.  
  
"You want to know about them?" Sydney hesitated and stared into her mother's chocolate eyes, the ones that she shared.  
  
"Would you?" Irina almost pleaded. It was clear she was begging to learn about her daughter.   
  
And Sydney let her learn.  
  
Even though she didn't want to admit it, she really wanted her mother's concern and care. It was something she had not had since she was little, and she was starving for it.  
  
"Noah was my boyfriend in college. We went through SD-6 field training together.."Sydney slowed, "Then after we had dated for almost three years, he just...disappeared. Without any notice at all. It was...crushing." Sydney paused, remembering the hard times after he left her. "Almost six (?) years later, I found him again. I had been working for the CIA for about seven months when I was sent with my partner, Dixon, to pull an agent out of an undercover operation that had been ruined. That agent...well, it was Noah. We got back together, well sorta... But then, he asked me to run away from the intelligence world with him. I told him that I couldn't....because...because I had to find you first." Sydney was crying now.  
  
"During this time..you knew Vaughn?" Irina asked.  
  
"Yeah. He was my handler since I joined the CIA." Sydney answered and continued with her story.  
  
"To be honest, back then, I had just found out that your whole life with my father had been a lie. Even the part about you wanting to have a family-even loving me." Sydney looked deep into her mother's eyes and saw the hurt that she had just inflicted by saying that.  
  
"No Sydney. At a time I truly did love your father. And I always, ALWAYS, regardless of what you may have heard, loved you. I only stopped loving your father after I left when he took away your life by programming you with that ridiculous Project Christmas. I could love no man that tried to hurt my child." Irina was too crying by the end of her speech.  
  
"I'm sorry." Sydney sought forgiveness and embraced her mother.  
  
After she controlled the tears that were pouring from her eyelids, she continued on with her story.  
  
"Noah then volunteered to go on another long-time undercover mission. He again, left me." And then she added as an afterthought, "But not before he stole away some of my dignity first."  
  
"Again, I got an offer to run away with him. He had called from a plane and sent me tickets. I never intended to go and I went on a mission with Dixon to find Caulder."  
  
"Oh yes, I remember Caulder." Irina wondered.  
  
"When I was there, I saw a man called the Snowman who had been hired by K-Directorate to apparently kill Caulder. I fought with the Snowman and he eventually accidentally stabbed himself when I kicked him. I pulled off his mask. It was Noah." Sydney ended.  
  
"Oh Sydney. I am so sorry darling." Irina held her daughter for a few precious minutes before Sydney was able to continue.  
  
"Danny was a normal guy. He was a doctor. When he asked me to marry him I felt that I couldn't marry someone with them thinking a lie. So I told him what I thought was the truth. That I worked for a secret branch of the CIA. He still wanted to marry me. To make a long story short, I returned from a trip to find him dead in the bathtub. One shot to the head, and two to the chest. SD-6 killed the man I loved." Sydney paused as her mother grasped her hand in comfort.   
  
"I refused to return to SD-6 and they eventually tried to have me killed. Then, dad told me the truth about SD-6 and I went to steal the model of the circumference. I was tortured, but I got home and gave the device to Sloane, regaining his trust. Then, I walked in to the CIA." Sydney finished.  
  
Many more minutes were filled with hugs and comforting words.  
  
"And so you see," Sydney said, "That is why I don't want to get close to Vaughn and risk endangering his life."  
  
As if on cue, Vaughn and Jack walked into the hallway and up to the holding cell retaining Sydney and Irina. Both men had fire in their eyes and anger radiating from their faces.  
  
Jack spoke, "How could you Sydney!?"  
  
*  
Review and I will post ASAP!!!! 


	3. The Hurt You Can Feel

*Chapter Three*  
  
  
  
"How could you Sydney!?"  
  
"How could I what Dad?"  
  
"Don't play funny with me, Sydney Amelia Bristow! You know exactly what you have done!" Jack raged.   
  
Sydney had absolutely no idea what her father was talking about. What hurt worse, was he must believe whatever Intel the CIA had gotten, was true. And Vaughn must too. Her own father didn't even believe her....and Vaughn-the man she loved, the man that had been there for her all of those times....Something was really, really messed up here...  
  
"I thought you were just a lost, hurt girl fighting to save the world, all of this time I had believed every word you had ever said was pure and true-but this! Now this is just too much Sydney!" Vaughn added to the yelling.  
  
With every word Sydney could feel another tear attach to her eyelid, each one threatening to fall.  
  
"Daddy, please believe me-I.."  
  
"I will not listen to your petty excuses anymore Sydney." And with that, Jack stalked out of the hallway.  
  
"Vaughn! You have to understand! I don't know what you all think I did, but whatever it is I..."  
  
"Sydney., I have given up so much for you-but now, I see it was all a lie-everything I ever believed about you, it is just so fake. I'm sorry." And Vaughn left too.  
  
Sydney stood for another minute, soaking up the words said by each of them. How was she to fix this if she had no idea what she had supposedly done wrong?  
  
She could feel the presence of her mother behind her and was suddenly enveloped in a pair of kind arms. She absorbed the feeling of her mother's arms closed around her, trying to remember all the times she had wished she could do just this.   
  
Next thing Sydney remembered, was waking up on the metal bench, wrapped in a woolly white blanket, her mother staring up at her from her seat on the floor. Sydney slowly raised herself into a sitting position and patted the empty place beside her in invitation. Irina came to sit with her. Neither said a word.  
  
Suddenly, Irina laughed, startling Sydney out of her silent reverie.  
  
"What are you laughing at?"   
  
"Oh, I was just thinking about how ironic this whole situation was."  
  
"Please elaborate." Sydney requested.  
  
"Well, here I am, sitting next to my daughter, watching her sleep, comforting her for the first time in 21 years, but it is only because she is in trouble with the U.S. government. That is what it takes for them to let you speak to me. Being a supposed criminal." Irina sighed deeply.  
  
"I'm sorry mom. I know what you mean." Sydney smiled sadly.  
  
"But I am going to be sad when they do find the truth and let me go because I won't get to do this." Sydney added.  
  
"Yes baby, I know."  
  
**  
1 Hour Later (10 am the next day)  
**  
  
  
"Oh my god, Syd!"   
  
"Will? How did you get in here?"  
  
*  
  
A/N: Hehehehe Review and I will add more!! 


	4. Look Into His Eyes

*  
Chapter Four  
*  
  
"Will? How did you get in here?" Sydney rushed up to the glass.  
  
"I was meeting with Vaughn about my psyche test and he seemed really angry. But when I asked all he told me was that I might not see you again for a very long time. Then I finally got permission from him to come see you." Will relayed breathlessly.  
  
"Oh my god." It was Sydney's turn to be surprised.  
  
"Oh Will! Something really strange is going on and I am stuck here until it is resolved. The CIA thinks I did something wrong or...I don't know! They refuse to tell me what it was that I supposedly did that was so horrible." Sydney frowned in frustration.  
  
"Oh, Will, while you're here, you might as well meet my mother." Sydney turned around and motioned for her mother to join them.  
  
Will only stared in awe at how comfortable each woman was with the other.  
  
"Hello there, I'm Irina, Sydney's 'long lost' mother." Irina waved unsurly at the man behind the glass.  
  
"Um, hi, it's nice to finally meet you." Will smiled back nervously.  
  
"So," Will said, returning the conversation to work matters, "What about SD-6, don't you have to go to work?" He tried.  
  
"Well, I think my dad was covering for me, but now I am not so sure." Sydney averted her gaze to the floor timidly.  
  
"What do you mean you're not so sure?" Will asked, confused.  
  
"Well, he came to see me here last night and...well, he and Vaughn believe I did something, I don't know what, but they believe it. I am afraid my dad might have stopped covering for me because of that." Sydney returned choppily.  
  
Will only nodded sympathetically.  
  
"Anyway, how is Francie?" Sydney changed the subject.  
  
"Worried." Will responded immediately. "What should I tell her about your absence?"  
  
"Just tell her," Sydney stopped, deep in thought of an acceptable lie, "Tell her I am visiting a friend in New York or something and won't be back for a while."  
  
  
"Got it." Will confirmed, "And Syd?"  
  
"Yah?"  
  
"We miss you, come back home as soon as you can, ok?" Will gazed at her with...love?-no, only platonic feelings, right?  
  
"I will, promise."  
  
And with Sydney's words ingrained into his mind, Will left.  
  
  
  
Irina had been watching the conversation intently. "I see someone is in love." Irina said, referring to the man that had just looked at her daughter with, 'the look'.  
  
"Ya, I know. I know he means well, but I really wish he would give it up soon." Sydney said with remorse for her fledging friend. "Why can't he see I don't think of him in that way?" She asked the question that could only be answered truthfully by him.  
  
"Because, dear, when you love someone, you become blind to all other components, such as the return of that love." Irina answered simply.  
  
"He may always feel that way about you Sydney, you just have to learn to live with it and move on. Your own happiness is what is most important." She added.  
  
"Yeah. You're right mom." Sydney responded surely.  
  
"And who is Francie?" Irina asked tentatively.  
  
"My roommate since college." Sydney responded easily. "And my best friend."  
  
Irina waited for Sydney to elaborate on her friend.  
  
"She just opened a restaurant. So far, it's doing really well." Sydney spoke eagerly, "I miss her mom."   
  
"I know dear. I miss my friends too." Irina consoled.  
  
"Tell me about them. Your friends." Sydney pleaded, as if asking for a bedtime story.  
  
"Well, I only have two good friends, Andrea Wesley and Kaitlin Malloy. Andrea went to high school with me and we used to call each other frequently. Until I turned myself in, that is. Kaitlin works with me. She is senior operative, and she was Khasinau's wife until I assassinated him." Irina spoke.  
"That must have been hard, murdering your friend's husband." Sydney said solemnly.  
  
"Yes, It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. But I knew I had to do it. He had his own agenda, one I did not approve of at all. He planned on killing you someday, and of course, I would never let that happen to my baby girl." Irina concluded.  
  
"Hey, I have another walk on the roof to use up, would you like to go?" Irina turned to her daughter with the question.  
  
"I would love to!" Sydney was overjoyed. She had never missed fresh air so much.  
  
Irina knocked on the glass and called to the nearest guard with her request.  
  
  
*  
On the roof  
*  
  
  
The mother and daughter duo walked peacefully hand in hand. Even though she was being held under maximum security, Sydney had not felt so happy in years, just walking around with her mother. Her only wish now was to be free to walk outside of the jail-like walls with her mother...  
  
*  
Back in the cell (5pm)  
*  
  
Vaughn appeared at the glass cell wall almost as soon as Sydney and her Mom were brought back from the roof.  
  
"We need your help for a mission." Vaughn addressed both women.  
  
Sydney looked into Vaughn's eyes for a long minute before agreeing. She silently scolded herself for not looking,-really looking- into them at their previous meeting. Something in his eyes told her not to be afraid. They somehow silently told her something fishy was going on and he knew what it was. He knew she was innocent.  
  
"What do we have to do?"  
  
*  
  
  
REVIEW!!! The story is really just beginning! 


	5. Trust In Love

Thanks for all the reviews! Keep reviewing! Enjoy!  
  
*  
Chapter Five  
*  
  
  
"What do we have to do?" Sydney prompted Vaughn, letting him silently know that she understood-maybe to only a certain degree- but understood a little none the less. She still had no idea what the CIA thought she had done wrong, but that look in his eyes had somehow assured her that she should listen and everything would be taken care of.  
  
At this, Irina also approached the glass, joining her once disturbed, but suddenly calm daughter.  
  
Vaughn's tone remained gruff as he explained, "Your aliases will be Chiara Walker and her mother, Elysa Walker. My alias is Joshua Walker, and I will be posing as Sydney's brother. Jack will be going as Drew Walker, Irina's husband. Our objective is to steal some blueprints from a hotel called 'Das Große Malone' that is hiding undercover materials for K-Directorate. It is a simple in and out. I will be back in one hour to get you." And with that, Vaughn left.   
  
"Great." Irina said in a mimicking fashion.  
Sydney pulled her mother to sit beside her on the floor and spoke quietly, "Something is definitely going on, but Vaughn knows, that whatever it is, I didn't do it. We need to go on this mission." Sydney spoke unwavering.  
"Alright. For you." Irina relented.  
*  
55 minutes later  
*  
  
Vaughn walked briskly into the hallway and to the locked door of the cell. He opened it quickly and prompted Sydney and Irina to come to him. In his hands he held two new C-4 necklaces.  
  
"Irina. I believe you know the drill." And with that, Irina walked up to jr. Vaughn, faced him, and pulled her hair to the top of her head. Vaughn quickly clasped her necklace around her neck and moved away for her to exit the tiny cell. She then waited patiently in the hallway, watching the man her daughter loved give Sydney a necklace that could blow her head off in an instant.  
He was gentle with her, and secretly gazed deep into her soul as he closed the clasp.  
"Who has the watch?" Sydney asked worriedly.  
"Jack has Irina's necklace timer, and I have yours." Vaughn said carefully.  
"Alright." Sydney stepped out off the cell and the three strode calmly down the mostly unoccupied hallway.  
Jack met them at the hidden exit and they hopped into a black SUV, finally on their way to the airport.   
*  
As always, Review!!!!! 


	6. Revenge of the Injured

*  
Chapter Six  
*  
Below is a piece of Losing Grip by Avril Lavigne. I thought it fit in -as it refers to how Syd might have felt when she first saw he mom again after 21 years.  
*  
Why should I care Cuz you weren't there when I was scared I was so alone You, you need to listen I'm starting to trip, I'm losing my grip and I'm in this thing alone  
*  
  
This chapter is going to touch on some shakey subjets-the rating is probably a PG or PG-13...PLease ReVIew!!  
  
  
*  
Back to your regularly scheduled program....  
*  
  
  
  
  
Jack met them at the hidden exit and they hopped into a typical, black SUV, finally on their way to the airport.   
  
The drive was anything but peaceful. Nearly the second Jack hit the gas pedal, there was screaming, first originating from Sydney...  
  
"Dad, I don't know what you guys think I did wrong, but.."  
  
"Sydney. Please listen to me carefully. Sark struck a deal with us. He somehow found out about your double-agent status and came to us with a trade off. In exchange for some legal documents on an escaped convict that we had held up in CIA special forces jailhouse, he promised to offer us Intel that proved you were not really loyal to the CIA, Intel that suggested you were a triple-agent with K-Directorate. Kendall, being the unknowledgable jackass that he is, agreed with this deal. He put you in custody and showed us the Intel. Agent Vaughn and I knew the Intel had to be incorrect, we knew, no doubt, that you were always loyal to us. Just as we were preparing to let you go, Sark presented us with another deal. He told us he would destroy SD-6 if we kept you in custody for the duration of your life. He said all he wanted was revenge for all the times that you, Sydney, got whatever you were sent to get on a mission, that he wanted. It was all for revenge." Jack pondered for a few moments before continuing,  
  
"We, knowing you would have wanted SD-6 to be brought down more than anything, agreed. To make sure the deal was followed through with, Sark tapped into our video feed of the holding cell you were in. But of course, we would not keep you locked up forever. This is why we are going on this mission. SD-6 was burned to the ground this morning at 11:00 A.M. Through some tapped connections on Sark's cell phone we were able to find out that right now, Sark is on a plane to Germany to retrieve a blackmail disk containing only damaging information about the Alliance that was started by Irina several years ago. He recently completed the disk and is prepared to destroy it so that it can never get into the wrong hands. He needs some documents and Rambaldi artifacts from the Alliance for a newly discovered device that can blow up a country in its entirety." Jack was nearing breathlessness from the lengthy explanation.  
  
"As you should already know, we want the Alliance destroyed as soon as possible. We rigged the tape of you two sleeping last night to replay itself to keep Sark believing we still have you in the cell. While we are gone, he will just believe you are sleeping. So now, we are going to Germany to first get the disk and then assassinate Mr. Sark so that he can no longer cause trouble for the Agency." Jack finished.  
  
Silence filled the car as Sydney and Irina absorbed the information.  
  
"Jack, I know where the disk was before I turned myself in, but Sark has surely changed its location to keep it concealed,..how will we find it?" Irina queried.  
  
"No, you're wrong Irina. Sark never moved the disk. He never even touched it. When he added information to it, he set up a satellite transmitter to program it onto the disk. He plans to destroy it by blowing up the cave it is in." Jack answered shakily.  
  
"I don't understand. Why would he be afraid to go near it?" Sydney asked, confused.  
  
"He is afraid to get near it because it is in the underground quarters of a chute that he went to when he was young. You have to know him well to understand why he is afraid of his youth church. On his final visit to it, he was 15 years old. The priest was a friend of his family and had invited him to come and listen to his upcoming sermon ahead of time. To make a long story short, Sark came home a different person. He could be placed under the title, 'Rupert Sark, sexual molestation victim'." Irina shivered.  
  
Sydney went back and forth between a look of disgust and a look of sympathy.  
  
"I recruited him when he was 16 and trained him to fight. He was the perfect candidate, full of anger and strong will." Irina sighed at the memory. 


	7. AN

*  
Author's Note  
  
*  
  
I have caught quite a wave of writer's block!! Anyone with ideas that you would like to see in this story please email me or review!  
  
I was expecting more reviews in the last chapter, but it got cut off, and then when I fixed it- no new reviews?!!  
  
Come on peeps! Give me ideas and reviews!!!  
  
* 


End file.
